•24 mem* I"\\, : C^VI^MM < VVATLK1 bUPPLY AND SAriiTA'HON (\tt-.~) .1 REPORT of the UNICEF ASSESSMENT MISSION FOR WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS IN THE OWAMBO REGION NORTHERN NAMIBIA Hans Spruitj UNICEF Water Advisor (Kigali) Windhoek, February 1990 %m -ftA o^ yo -to ooo Table of Contents 1.INTRODUCTION 1.1.Background 1.2.Objectives of the mission 1.3.Procedure 1 .4.Acknowledgements 2.DESCRIPTION OF THE OVAMBO REGION 2.1.General geographical conditions 2.2.Population 2.3.Subdivisions and Administrative organization 2.4.Socio-economic situation 3.ASSESSMENT OF THE WATER SUPPLY SITUATION 3,1.General overview 3.2.Review of available water supplies 3.2.1. The Owambo Pipeline System 3.2.2. Canals 3.2.3. Oshanas 3.2.4. Shallow unlined pits 3.2.5. Excavation dams 3.2.6. Pump-storage dams 3.2.7. Boreholes with motorpump,windmi11 or handpump 3.2.8. Lined hand-dug wells with handpump or windlass 3.2.9. Rainwater collection systems 3.2.10.Water reservoirs filled by water trucks 3.3.Constraints met . -Physical constraints -Technological constraints -War 4.EVALUATION OF UNMET DRINKING WATER NEEDS AND ADDITIONAL WATER POINTS REQUIRED 4.1.Criteria 4.2.Drinking water coverage in the Owambo region 4.3.Requirements for additional drinking water points 5.RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1.Strategy 5.2.Project proposals APPENDIX I. Terms of Reference II. List of persons met •'*' J. 00 0 1 . INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background In anticipation of Namibia's independence, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is preparing a programme of cooperation with the Namibian Government in support of Namibia's mothers and children. The adverse effects of nature, neglect and war have taken their toll on Namibia's population, most of which are living in the north. In that region infant and child mortality rates are thought to be particularly high. Of Namibia's estimated present population of 1 .7 million, roughly 60% live in the extreme northern part of the country and over a third of Namibia's population, estimated at some 600,000 people, live in the central part of the border area with Angola (the Owambo region). "*" Initial assessment of the conditions showed that the rural water supply situation in this area is very deficient. Due to the lack of access to clean drinking water for the population and its lifestock, diarrhoeal diseases and malnutrition are high and seem to contribute overwhelmingly to infant and child mortality and to low productivity in the farming economy. In order to respond to the need to intervene in a rational way UNICEF-windhoek requested assistance in assessing the water situations in the Owambo region and to define possible interventions to improve the water supply conditions in the entire region. Advice was also sought to formulate possible water supply and sanitation components to area-based development projects proposed for the area of Tsandi in central-west Owambo. As drought conditions were developing in early January 1990, proposals for an emergency response were added to the objectives of the mission. The author was requested to assist the UNICEF-Windhoek office and agreement was made to schedule the mission from January 16 till February 8, 1990. 1.2. Purpose of the mission The mission's objective was to assess the water supply situation in the Owambo region and to formulate possible interventions to support the incoming Government of Namibia in its tasks to improve access to safe water supplies for this region's population. UNICEF's normal procedure is to prepare, in full collaboration with the Government, an accurate analysis of the situation of mothers and children and then to proceed to a programming exercise for a one year or a multi-year cycle. UNICEF will make commitments towards the implementation of a joint Government of Namibia-UNICEF Plan of Action, in terms of cash and material assistance and expertise. The present mission is intended to contribute to the preparation of the Situation Analysis concerning the water supply situation in the Owambo region and to define common ground for the formulation of a water supply and sanitation component in the programme of cooperation. The terms of reference for the mission are attached in Appendix I. 1 - 3.Procedure for the mission The mission was undertaken during a 3-week period from January 16 till February 8, 1990. The mission period was divided in three parts: Period Activities 1. 17-20 January 1990 Briefings in Windhoek 2. 21-31 January 1990 Field visits in the Owambo region. 3. 01-08 February 1990 Additional meetings in Windhoek. Report preparation, report submission and debriefing. The UNICEF-Windhoek office prepared a list of key institutions and people to meet both in the Windhoek area and in the Owambo region. To obtain the necessary data the following procedure was used: 1 .Coordination meetings and interviews with key people at the following offices: UNTAG, Swapo, .Ovambo Administration, CCN/RRR and churches: Lutheran, Anglican and Catholic; the Rural Development Centre and UNHCR 2.Launch of a Water Inventory via SWAPO network 3.Discussions and collection of data at the Dept. of Water Affairs and at the Ovambo Administration 4.Field visits to specific projects 5.General field inspections and interviews with the population 6.Meetings with the tribal leaders with assistance from UNTAG district officers and RRR Committee. * A questionnaire was used to inventorize the type and number of water points per village, as well as the distance to the nearest water point during the dry season and possible projects to improve the water supply situation. The questionnaire was kindly prepared, multiplied and distributed by the Swapo regional office in Oshakati. Sufficient forms were distributed to each of the 4 sub-regional sectors. In each sector the forms were distributed among the 4-7 subdivisions ('wards'). At each of the in total 24 wards the forms were filled out with the assistance of sometimes a multitude of people. Due to time constraints, only a small percentage of the completed questionnaires was available for processing during the report preparation, 1.4.Acknowledgements The author wishes to express his gratitude to all that have contributed to the completion of the mission. In particular I wish to thank Mr. Israel Shikongo of RRR-Ongwediva for giving his time to accompany me on all field visits in Owambo. Special thanks also to Mr. Simon Kaukungwa and staff of SWAPO-Oshakati for his assistance and cooperation with the preparation and follow-up of the field questionnaire. Also Mr. Mik Magnusson and staff of UNTAG Regional Office Oshakati and district staff, for all support given, in particular in the sharing all relevant information collected during the UNTAG monitoring of the drought and the support in the data collection via the questionnaire. The assistance and information sharing by Mr. Pedro Maritz and staff of the Department of Water Affairs in Windhoek and by Mr. Leon Nel in Oshakati was greatly appreciated as was the assistance arid information sharing by Mr. Keith Morrow of the Owambo Administration. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE OVAMBO REGION 2.1.General geographical conditions The Owambo region is located in the central part of Namibia's border area with Angola in the North. The Etosha saltpan National Park borders in the South, Kaokoland in the West and Kavango in the East. The surface area is 52,230 km2, which represents just 6.3% of Namibia's total surface area. The region"s form is roughly trapezoidal extending 365 km E-W and 130 km N-S. The area is located between the latitudes 17 20' - 18 30' South and 14 00' - 18 00 East, and is as such located in the lower tropics. Altitude ranges from 1,090 m. to 1,150 m. above sea level. The topography of the region is virtually flat, with a small exception at Ruacana in the extreme northwest, where the terrain is rough. From Ruacana eastward, over a distance of some 350 km, the area is a slightly undulating plain, part of the Owam'bo^ Basin, with an extremely low gradient from east and west towards the center. Here, at Ondongwa, the plain reaches its lowest point, draining towards the Etosha Pan. Climate Rainfall is sparse, ranging from just over an annual total of 300 mm in the Southeast to almost 600 mm in the Northeast. The rains concentrate in the 6-7 months during period from October to Apri1. Due to the high year-round temperatures and dry winds the potential evapotranspiration is extremely high, on the order of 2,600 mm per annum. These conditions throughout the ages, combined with the interior drainage system of the region (Cuvelai River) reduced runoff downstream towards the Etosha Pan to such an extent, that salinization of the region's subsoil took place and resulted in the creation of the Etosha saltpan at the lower end of the system. Geology The Owambo region is located in a sedimentary basin called the Owambo Basin, that extends into Angola and possibly continues into western Zambia. This basin has been filled with a succession of deposits with a total thickness of some 8,600 meter on top of a granite basement. Outcrops of the different sedimentary rocks, that occur in the subsoil are found on the southern and western rims of the basin. In the basin these rock formations are covered by a blanket of up to 600 meter thick unconsolidated deposits of the Kalahari Sequence. Underneath the Etosha Pan the sequence attains some 100 meters, whereas the maximum thickness is attained in the northeast, between Okongo and the Kavango River. From some deep boreholes it has come to be known, that brines occur in the region's subsoil at depths as deep as 750 meters up to the upper formations.